'The measure of Vanek's progress is in the numbers. It's not that he leads all American Hockey League rookies with 30 goals. That might have been expected from the University of Minnesota star who dazzled Buffalo with his offensive gifts during the 2003 Frozen Four. More telling is Vanek's plus-4 rating, a positive compiled even though 16 of his goals have come on the power play and therefore are stricken from the equation.'

'I like a bright arena and I feel this made the arena look darker. I would've liked to have one zone white and one zone blue so I could've compared it. I could see the puck very well and the blue was much sharper after being resurfaced. It only took about seven minutes for the snow to start developing. By the end of the period, the snow covered most of the blue. I looked at the TV monitors and it almost looked like the old white ice.'

'But from afar there was a distinct difference, as the black puck seemed to stand out well on its powder-blue backdrop, especially when it slid along the orange ''blue'' lines. ''I think the orange lines really stood out,'' said Rochester forward Derek Roy, who watched the game from the press box after he was given the night off. ''I think that was a positive. But overall, it didn't look that much different. It looked like everyone adapted and everyone liked it.'''

”Sabres coach Lindy Ruff watched Rochester practise on the blue ice the other day and came away with a positive first impression. “From sitting in the stands, it looks real cool cosmetically,” Ruff said. “When you’re standing at ice level, behind the bench, it looks as if it has a grey tint to it. You don’t really get a true feel for the colour unless you’re higher up.”‘

‘“You don’t realize how big guys are when you come to the pro levels and you have to their intensity and toughness. I find a lot of guys, especially in the OHL and WHL, are not as big as they can be or strong enough to play in the NHL. I think that is the biggest problem. This is a big year for both of them to work out during the summer and get big because they definitely have the skill to play up here.”’

‘”We tried all that stuff before,” said Mellanby. “The great thing, especially in the brilliance of high-definition, is the white ice. I checked all that out. I checked this out over and over. The engineering guys who are at the top of their game say the great thing about high-definition is the white ice. That was one thing we were certain of was the white ice — even without high-definition — was the way to stay.”‘